"She Has An Eye For Detail"

Leslie here.  I thought I would share a couple of the pieces I have completed for our upcoming show at the art center in Old Forge.  Since our theme of "Off The Hangar", I wanted to focus on some details that go into the idea of fashion in these two pieces.
Originally, I contemplated doing these in encaustic.  Since I live in South Texas and it is still pretty hot I got "chicken" about how to safely ship them in the heat, so I opted instead to work with acrylic layers.
The first piece is mounted on cradled panel.  The dimensions are 8x8 inches, and the panel is 1-inch in depth.

First, I want to talk about this new pen I've been playing with:  a Pilot FriXion erasable pen.

I'm obsessed with it!  My friend, Melly Testa, introduced me to it.  For the textile artist who hand or machine embroiders, this thing is the bomb!  Let me show you why:

Here, I am drawing a smiley face on my stitched cloth.

Watch what happens after I hit it with a small bit of steam from my iron:

Whoops!  All gone!

I am in love.  

No more pencil marks ghosting under your embroidered elements.

*Note:  I have been cautioned that it is possible the mark may return with exposure to cold.  Be sure when you are using this pen that you mark only where you plan to place stitch.  

Machine-stitched on pieced silk organza

For these pieces I wanted to layer some ethereal elements of stitching that suggest details of a 

garment.  I chose this partial dress with a waist and box-pleats for my experiment.  First, I drew 

the design onto the organza, then stitched on the machine and removed the drawing with steam.

Using Yes! glue and a palette knife I secured the small embroidery onto a previously collaged cloth and paper surface that is mounted onto the cradled panel.

Using another piece of white organza, I stitched another dress form in red thread 

and embedded it onto the upper left corner.

My second piece is mounted on a 1.5 inch deep gallery-wrapped canvas, also 8x8 inches.  The background of this piece is a collage of old book pages, joss paper, shredded paper, and pattern paper.

Using the same stitching technique, I embroidered two dresses and one hangar, then layered them onto the surface with Yes! glue.

Each piece was finished by wrapping and glueing a length of trim around the side of the panel/canvas.